How do you get attention in a multi-channel world where potential customers synthesise opinions from multiple narratives about the client?

As a PR professional you have to decide what is the best approach to this multichannel world for each client on a spectrum from frenetic bursts of fame to slow-burners.  You also have to closely observe what other narratives are forming around the client and attempt to shape them.  And that's shape, not resist.  Resistance is futile because it looks like denial and merely fuels contrary opinions.  Shaping narratives requires subtle skill.  Journalists clearly have a role in this shaping as influencers and this is the basis of media relations, but the other truism is that PR is required to build relationships with influencers, just as it has always been.  Certainly, companies can speak directly to their customers, or to journalists, but do they have the patience to build relationships and the skill to shape narratives?
 
Yes, PR's can do their job entirely electronically, but electronic communications are easy to ignore.  They are mostly textual and don't really convey the rich mix of communication that face to face or even verbal contact brings.  You can build a more powerfull relationship face to face than in 140 characters.  It's also easier for a journalist (or other influencer) to say no to an anonymous text or email or to decline a self-serving Facebook request.
 
So if you wonder how to get the most from the brave new world of social media, we've built a programme around Socialnomics.  It fits in with the traditional mix of communication channels so that it works where it is relevant.  Amazingly, we've got a book in hard format that explains more about this, but we've also got a video you can watch to get you thinking.
 
In a world suffering from attention-deficit disorder, relationships focus the attention, so don't assume that because it's electronic, the PR's job is redundant.  It's just as relevant, if not more so!

http://www.miliberty.com/SocialNomics/ best watched with volume turned up!

AOL appoints first director of video
AOL Europe is bolstering its commitment to video with the appointment of Kelly Sweeney to the new role of director of video. She will be responsible for commissioning original productions and managing relationships with production partners and advertisers. Formerly, Sweeney served as head of original content at social network Bebo and was line producer on shows such as KateModern. She has also worked on productions for the BBC, ITV and Sky.
New Media Age

IT budgets enjoy 2010 spending increase
This year will see IT spending rise for the first time since the global recession took hold, although a full-scale recovery is unlikely in the short term, analysts have predicted. Around a third of businesses expect their IT budgets to increase in 2010, according to a worldwide survey carried out by analyst house Ovum.
ZDnet

UK plastic fraud losses fall for first time in 3 years, online banking losses up though
A rise in online banking fraud losses took some of the shine off the overall fall in debit and credit fraud in the UK last year. Official figures from the UK Cards Association, which represents UK credit and debit card providers, published on Wednesday show that fraud on debit and credit cards fell by 28 per cent in 2009 to £440.3m in total, compared to £610m in 2008.
The Register

Hard drive evolution could hit Microsoft XP users
Hard drives are about to undergo one of the biggest format shifts in 30 years.
By early 2011 all hard drives will use an "advanced format" that changes how they go about saving the data people store on them. The move to the advanced format will make it easier for hard drive makers to produce bigger drives that use less power and are more reliable.
BBC News

Google announces its own app store
INTERNET ENABLED GIANT Google is taking the marketplace idea it uses for Android apps and extending it for the rest of its online apps portfolio. The search giant has teamed with over 50 other companies to launch the Google Apps Marketplace, which allows administrators to access a host of cloud based applications for deployment to their domains.
The Inquirer

Google Buzz survey: Yeah, no one's using it
Google Buzz has a great deal of work to do to convince even tech-literate Web users that it's a viable service, a CNET UK survey shows. We asked our exquisitely discerning readers what they think of Gmail's status-updates feature and the results are in.  Some 220 people responded to the survey, 44 of whom had used Buzz. Criticism of the service ranged from its implementation -- "clustered and annoying" said one user -- to its openness, with one respondent concerned about the recent privacy kerfuffle. The low adoption rate put others off, with no one to talk to.
cnet UK

Apple iPad Network War - Let the battle commence
The carriers for the Apple iPhone are now set to battle it out to gain exclusivity of the Apple iPad.  In the US, AT&T have captured the rights for coverage of the iPad, but here in the UK, Vodafone, O2 and Orange are at loggerheads and the final decision will be made by Apple itself, who are making their way over here to deliver the verdict.
Unbeatable UK

Tech giants attack Digital Economy Bill
A number of influential tech industry players have signed an open letter to the Financial Times opposing government plans to tighten up internet regulation, particularly the moves to cut off illegal file sharers without a fair trial.  The signatories warn that the proposed amendment to the Digital Economy Bill could limit the right to free speech, and harm the UK's reputation as a place to do business. The letter has been signed by BT chief executive Ian Livingstone, TalkTalk chairman Charles Dunstone and Google UK managing director Matt Brittin, among others.
V3 UK

Lip-reading could come to mobile phones
Mobile phones could soon be able to read your lips, making so-called “silent conversations” a reality. By measuring tiny electrical signals produced by the muscles involved in speech, researchers have been able to develop a device which can record what a person is saying, even if it is inaudible, and then generate a synthesized version elsewhere.
The Telegraph 

The Rubicon Project offers mobile ad optimization tool
A new mobile advertising tool is promising to help premium web publishers maximize the value of their mobile platforms. REVV for Mobile has been created by online ad optimization specialist The Rubicon Project in conjunction with mOcean Mobile, an independent mobile ad platform.
New Media Age

Cybercrimes expand to global brands
While financial institutions still top the phishing radar, cybercriminals are now moving beyond to top brands, with one of the recent victims being a hardware manufacturer, according to the latest Anti-Phishing Work Group report. The report for the fourth quarter of 2009 revealed that 356 brands were hijacked in October, an increase of 4.4 per cent over the previous high of 341 recorded last August.
zdnet

Mobile retail market to exceed $12 billion by 2014
A new report from Juniper Research has found that one to one marketing allied to the rapid proliferation of smartphones will be among the key drivers of a mobile retail market which is anticipated to exceed $12 billion by 2014.
Comms Business

Google 'trialling TV search service'
It has been rumoured that Google is set to make a play for the set-top box space. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is working with Dish Network on a new feature that would let users search both TV content and web videos on set-top boxes "using elements of Google's Android operating system".
The Guardian

Microsoft launches Bing TV ad campaign
Microsoft has launched a three month TV advertising campaign in an effort to make ground on Google in the UK search market. Starting this week, the campaign will attempt to increase Bing's market share from the three per cent it currently holds.
IAB UK

US eases Cuba, Iran, Sudan sanctions to allow freer web
US technology firms will now be allowed to export online services such as instant messaging and social networks. Companies had not offered such services for fear of violating sanctions.
BBC News

Mobile-phone wallet stymied by lack of understanding
In a new white paper from the 'Forum (pdf), the industry body explains the various technologies available as well as the business relationships which are necessary to make proximity payments happen, all presented on the basis that users are just dying to pay for everything with a wave of the mobile telephone.
The Register

Android native code kit apes iPhone game 3D
Google has opened the door to iPhone-like 3D games on certain Android handsets, offering support for the OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics standard with its latest Android Native Development Kit (NDK).Mountain View announced the third release of its Android NDK in a Monday blog post. The chief addition is Open GL for Embedded Systems 2.0 native libraries, bringing the platform in line with Apple's iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre.
The Register

Palm gives away EA games for the Pre
Smartphone maker Palm has announced it is offering three free EA games to every Palm Pre user. After a good start, Palm is struggling to gain market share for its Pre high-end smartphone. Meanwhile, computer game giant EA has seen the writing on the wall and realised it needs to focus a lot more heavily on the mobile market. So it makes sense for the two of them to collaborate in the great mobile Internet land grab.
Hexus Channel

Internet access is 'a fundamental right'
Almost four in five people around the world believe that access to the internet is a fundamental right, a poll for the BBC World Service suggests. The survey, conducted by GlobeScan for the BBC, also revealed divisions on the question of government oversight of some aspects of the net.
Web users questioned in South Korea and Nigeria felt strongly that governments should never be involved in regulation of the internet. However, a majority of those in China and the many European countries disagreed. In the UK, for example, 55 per cent believed that there was a case for some government regulation of the internet.
BBC News

Browser makers demand screen time
Makers of small web browsers want their programs to be given more prominence on Microsoft's browser choice screen.  Six software firms have complained to the EU saying many do not realise their programs were on offer. To see all 12 web browsers, users must scroll to the right when viewing Microsoft's ballot screen. The choice is being offered as part of a settlement of an anti-trust case brought against Microsoft by the European Commission.
BBC News

Finishing school for Indian IT graduates
In a classroom in the southern Indian city of Mysore, several dozen young men and women listen rapt to their lecturer, Chhaya Srivatsa.The students here are all engineering graduates and their school, set up two years ago, Raman International Institute of Information Technology (RiiiT), is a finishing school for information technology (IT) professionals - some of whom are considered to lack the social skills which could help them get a job.
BBC News

US iPad launch slips (slightly) to April 3
Apple has announced that its iPad tablet will go on sale in the US on Saturday 3rd April. That's the Wi-Fi-only model - the Wi-Fi + 3G model will go on sale there in late April. That's a slight delay - the Wi-Fi version was expected to go on sale in late March. When it was unveiled on 27th January, CEO Steve Jobs said it would go on sale in 60 days.
Mobile Entertainment

Conservatives want big IT deals delayed
Shadow minister Francis Maude has asked the cabinet secretary to postpone the signing of important IT contracts until after the election.In a letter to Gus O'Donnell, Cabinet Office shadow Maude added that a minister must justify any cases where the government decides it must go ahead with a new deal. The Conservative Party is concerned about recent big deals signed by the Department for Work and Pensions, the renegotiation of contracts for the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) and the possible signing of a £1bn logistics deal by the Ministry of Defence.
The Register

Britain fends off flood of foreign cyber-attacks
Foreign states and terrorist groups are regularly launching cyber-attacks on the UK's computer systems with the potential to cause widespread damage, according to the government's security tsar. Lord West of Spithead, who is parliamentary under-secretary for security and counter-terrorism, told the Observer that the UK was under daily cyber attack, often from agencies working on behalf of foreign governments. He said there had been "300 significant attacks" on the government's core computer networks in the last year and warned of chaotic scenes if one successfully targeted infrastructure such as the UK's communications systems.
The Observer

YouTube 'under threat' from Digital Economy Bill changes
The High Court could be given the power to issue an injunction against a website accused of hosting "substantial" amounts of copyright-infringing material, under amendments to the Digital Economy Bill proposed by the Liberal Democrats. It means popular websites, such as YouTube, which often unwittingly carry content uploaded without the permission of copyright holders, could be "blocked" or forced offline if the amendment is upheld. The Digital Economy Bill was announced in the Queen's speech in November, with a major section dedicated to how best to deal with illegal file sharing.
Telegraph

Cyberwar declared as China hunts for the West’s intelligence secrets
Urgent warnings have been circulated throughout Nato and the European Union for secret intelligence material to be protected from a recent surge in cyberwar attacks originating in China. The attacks have also hit government and military institutions in the United States, where analysts said that the West had no effective response and that EU systems were especially vulnerable because most cyber security efforts were left to member states. Nato diplomatic sources told The Times: “Everyone has been made aware that the Chinese have become very active with cyber-attacks and we’re now getting regular warnings from the office for internal security.” The sources said that the number of attacks had increased significantly over the past 12 months, with China among the most active players.
The Times

Google improves collaborative Microsoft Office functions
Google has bought productivity specialists DocVerse, enabling users to edit Microsoft Office documents collaboratively online. Google's acquisition of DocVerse should prove to be a godsend to those working on joint projects where the team is using Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to collaboratively create and edit their documents online. Google credited DocVerse's "small, nimble team of talented developers who share [Google's] vision." The announcement was made via the Google Enterprise blog and via DocVerse's own site.
TechRadar UK

Judge puts Apple-Nokia case on hold
A judge has put the Apple and Nokia legal battle on hold. The move is to give the feds a chance to investigate the matter, which involves patent infringement claims from both Nokia and Apple. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is investigating Jobs' Mob's patent infringement complaint against Nokia as the legal handbags at dawn battle gets bogged down in knee deep mud. It all started in October 2009, when Nokia sued Apple claiming that Apple infringed ten of its patents without paying for them. When Nokia approached Cupertino with licensing terms, it was told that Steve Jobs invented everything including the wheel and fire and it would have to pay him instead.
The Inquirer

Online 'more popular than newspapers' in US
Online news has become more popular than reading newspapers in the US, according to a survey.
It is the third most popular form of news, behind local and national TV stations, the Pew Research Center said. Sixty-one per cent of readers surveyed said they got their news online on a typical day, compared with 78% from local news channels and 71% from a national TV network such as NBC or cable channels such as CNN or Fox News.
BBC News

Cameron's Conservatives launch a free iPhone app
The UK's Conservative Party has launched an official iPhone app, designed to keep people up to date with news and policies in the run-up to the General Election. The free app launched over the weekend, and offers a mixture of news and policy info, links to the party's social networking profiles, a 'Call A Friend' feature to canvass contacts, and a tiltable 'swingometer'.
Mobile Entertainment

BBC Trust won't probe iPlayer open source gripes
The governing body of the BBC has no plans to investigate the Corporation's decision to block open source implementations of RTMP (real-time messaging protocol) streaming in the iPlayer, despite grumbles from many UK viewers and listeners of the service. the Beeb applied the update to its online video catch-up service on 18 February, and shortly after BBC forums were awash with complaints by Blighty-based iPlayer users who could no longer access the service.
The Register

Microsoft fluffs Feds with secure cloud
Microsoft has beaten rival Google to deliver a version of its online applications tailored for US government users. This week, the company announced delivery of its Business Productivity Online Suite Federal, which updates the existing online suite with security, privacy, and compliance features. The suite includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Live Meeting, and Office Communications Online. Among the features are secured and separate hosting facilities access to which is restricted to a small number of US citizens who have cleared rigorous background checks under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
The Register

Twitter and Facebook access for US troops
US troops are to be allowed to use social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook following a review of internet use and security. Defence department officials say the benefits of using social media now outweigh the risks to security. The ruling means that a number of sites blocked by the Pentagon in 2007 - including YouTube - will be unblocked. However, commanders will be able to temporarily block access to safeguard missions or save bandwidth. Correspondents say social media and the internet are becoming increasingly important for the US military.
BBC News

Nintendo to launch bigger console in Europe, US next month
Nintendo will next month launch its DSi XL hand-held game console in Europe and the United States, hoping to win over older users with its bigger screens, web access and electronic book reader. The DSi XL, unveiled in Japan in November, will hit European stores on March 5 and US stores on March 28, Nintendo said Friday. Gaming consoles increasingly compete with other web-enabled portable devices such as smart phones, tablet computers such as the Apple iPad, and electronic book readers like Amazon's Kindle. The DSi XL's double screen is 93 percent bigger than last year's model - the panel now measures 4.2 inches (10.7 centimeters) - making it easier to read books by flicking virtual pages with a stylus.
The Independent

US government rescinds 'leave internet alone' policy
The US government’s policy of leaving the Internet alone is over, according to Obama’s top official at the Department of Commerce. Instead, an “Internet Policy 3.0” approach will see policy discussions between government agencies, foreign governments, and key Internet constituencies, according to Assistant Secretary Larry Strickling, with those discussions covering issues such as privacy, child protection, cybersecurity, copyright protection, and Internet governance. The outcomes of such discussions will be “flexible” but may result in recommendations for legislation or regulation, Strickling said in a speech at the Media Institute in Washington this week.
The Register

Palm ponders survival
Smartphone industry pundits wonder whether Palm can survive another year, given Palm's guidance today that its new smartphone sales failed to meet expectations. Palm revenues for the year will be "well below" a previous forecast, Palm said, because adoption of its Palm webOS smartphones, the Palm Pre and the Pixi, first announced in early 2009, is taking longer than anticipated. The news caused Palm's stock price to plunge 17% initially, and the question is being raised whether Palm can survive in its current form beyond the 2010 year-end holiday shopping season.
Techworld

Microsoft offers browser choices to Europeans
Microsoft is to ask millions of users across Europe if they want to use a web browser other than its own. Windows users will be offered the choice as part of a deal Microsoft struck with the European Commission. The agreement resolves a long-running case in which the software giant was accused of abusing its market position. A pop-up window will prompt people to choose and install one of 12 different browsers or let them stick with Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
BBC News

Over 1.2bn mobile phones sold in 2009
More than 1.2 billion mobile phones were sold globally last year, according to the latest research from analyst firm Gartner. The figures are 0.9 per cent on 2008, but the fourth quarter of 2009 saw an 8.3 per cent year-on-year rise to 340 million handset sales. "The mobile devices market finished on a very positive note, driven by growth in smartphones and low-end devices," says research director Carolina Milanesi. Nokia remained top with nearly 441 million handset sales in 2009, taking a market share of 36.4 per cent - down from 38.6 per cent in 2008.
PCR Online

Vodafone 'UK’s fastest network'
An independent survey, commissioned by mobile operator O2, has found that the Vodafone network offers the fastest speed for web browsing on a mobile phone. O2 came top for music downloads. The tests measured speeds on each of the UK's five mobile broadband networks to see which provided the fastest service.
The Telegraph

Qualcomn gets smartphone amplifier support from RFMD
RF Micro Devices has started volume production of its RF720x WCDMA/HSPA+ power amplifiers (PAs). The RF720x family is optimised for smartphone handset reference designs from Qualcomm and other suppliers. The chips support all major WCDMA/HSPA+ bands and band combinations.  According to Eric Creviston, president of RFMD's Cellular Products Group (CPG),  there is significant smartphone design activity taking place particularly in Korea, China and Taiwan.
Electronics Weekly

Rumour: Apple iPad available to pre-order this week?
The Wi-Fi version of the Apple iPad tablet could be available to pre-order this week, from Thursday 25th February.  The Wi-fi iPad is set to go on sale officially next month, with the more expensive Wi-fi and 3G option to follow in April.  That’s the rumour currently doing the rounds, with a “source close to the matter” quoted by the App Advice website, claiming the pre-orders would apply to US customers for now.  Apple has a ‘Notify Me’ section on both the US and UK online Apple Stores.
PC Advisor

Yahoo signs up Twitter
Yahoo and Twitter announced a deal to put Twitter feeds on Yahoo homepages, e-mail accounts, Yahoo Sports and other sites in a broad content-sharing agreement that also includes Twitter in Yahoo search results.  The global partnership will also include real-time public Twitter updates in a range of Yahoo properties, including Yahoo News, Finance, Entertainment and Sports. Yahoo search users will be able to see Twitter results immediately, while other aspects of the new agreement will go into effect later this year, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
ComputerWorld UK

Google faces European competition inquiry
The European Commission is looking into complaints about Google's behaviour, the company has revealed. The complaints were made by UK price comparison site Foundem, French legal search engine ejustice.fr, and Microsoft's Ciao. Google's senior competition lawyer Julia Holtz said the internet giant was "confident" it operated within European competition law.
BBC News

Let us legally rip discs, campaigner tells govt
Consumer rights advocate Consumer Focus has called on the government to fix copyright laws broken by the rise of digital technology. CF's argument is that now the UK's population has amassed a sizeable collection of computers, iPods and phones, members of the public have been busily rippings CDs and DVDs in order to get content to play on all these gadgets.
Reg Hardware

Microsoft tops Superbrands list overtaking rival Google
Microsoft has toppled its internet rival Google from the prized top spot in a survey of the UK's strongest 500 business brands published today. Google, which held the top position in 2008 and 2009, slips to fifth place while Microsoft enjoys the number one slot after coming second in the annual Business Superbrand top 500 survey in 2007 and 2008, and fifth last year.
The Guardian

Apple TV 'just a hobby', confirms Tim Cook
Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, says the Apple TV remains 'a hobby', and that the vast majority of his company's revenue comes from its mobile devices. But Mr Cook said that Apple believed Apple TV – which allows people to download movies and TV shows from the iTunes store and watch them on their television – was worth continued innovation and investment because there was "something there".
The Telegraph

Investor reveals details of successful web applications
To be successful, a web application must be fast, instantly useful, playful and search engine friendly with a clean user interface, according to venture capitalist Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures. Wilson, speaking at the Future of Web Apps conference in Miami Beach, also told the developers and entrepreneurs who filled the Colony Theater that applications should also have their own "voice," or a personality that distinguishes them, and focus on doing a few things really well.
Techworld

O2 London mobile broadband out in front
An O2 commissioned survey to estimate broadband speeds in the UK has revealed that the network carrier is the fastest operator in London, while results for the rest of the country were a little mixed.
ITproPortal

Google officially jams Gears
Google has said that it has stopped active development on Google Gears and is moving its efforts to the HTML5 database API to provide local database storage for web browsers.
The H Open

New wireless charging standard proposed
An industry body known as the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) has proposed a standard called Qi, which is set to be finalised later this year and will allow charging points to be installed in furniture and table mats, for example.
The Inquirer

Google u-turns on China?
Google is restarting talks with the Chinese government in order to clarify the future of its businesses in the country. The search giant had previously said it could no longer co-operate with Chinese censorship of search results.
The Register

Broadband tax condemned as 'unfair' by MPs 
A UK government proposal to charge people with fixed phone lines 50p per month to help fund ultra-fast broadband has been condemned as "unfair" by MPs. The cross-party Business Innovation and Skills Committee said most of those who would pay the tax would not benefit from the faster broadband service.
BBC News
 
iPlayer reaches 120 million requests per month
BBC's popular iPlayer platform has managed to smash through the 120 million programme requests milestone in January 2010, its third consecutive highest month. Not surprisingly, the  bad weather and the long winter nights have been major factors to the iPlayer success in 2009 and early 2010. Hundreds of thousands had to stay indoors and in many a time, video on demand was one of the more readily available pastimes.
ITproPortal

Google Transit launches in Europe
Google has announced the launch of Transit, an add-on service to Google Maps that incorporates public transport routes and schedules to enable users to plan journeys across town. The new service is being launched in Brussels together with the city's public transport operator MIVB/STIB and will be rolled out in other cities in Europe at a later date.
Macworld

Microsoft launches site for young men
Microsoft has launched a men's site called MSN Him. Warner Bros has signed up as the first brand to advertise on MSN Him and will advertise male-targeted movies and DVDs across the site for the next three months.
New Media Age

Wagamama debuts UK's first food-ordering iPhone app
Wagamama has become the first restaurant brand in the UK to launch its own iPhone application. Designed for users wishing to place a take-out order directly from their handset, the app enables users to locate their nearest branch, browse the menu to place their order at any time on the day and pay securely with a debit or credit card.
Net Imperative
 
Amazon seals patent deal with Microsoft
Amazon has signed a patent agreement with Microsoft that will enable the two companies to share technology. Part of the agreement means that Amazon is now shielded from patent litigation for software on the Kindle, as well as their Linux-based servers. Microsoft added that Amazon would pay an undisclosed amount under the patent licence agreement.
TechRadar

Microsoft offers web browser choice to IE users
Millions of European Internet Explorer (IE) users will have the option to choose an alternative browser from 1st March. The announcement follows a legal agreement between Microsoft and Europe's Competition Commission in December 2009. Microsoft committed to letting Windows PC users across Europe install the web browser of their choice, rather than having Microsoft IE as a default.
BBC News

US 'closes in on Google hackers'
Investigators say they are closing in on the source of the cyber attacks that hit a number of US companies, including Google, according to reports. The Financial Times suggests that US officials have tracked the author of the code used to attack the company. The paper says the alleged hacker is a Chinese "freelance security consultant in his 30s" who had published extracts of the attack code on the web. The attacks led Google to announce that it may pull out of China entirely.
BBC News

Space shuttle Endeavour lands in Florida
The space shuttle Endeavour has landed at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, following its latest visit to the International Space Station (ISS). The two-week mission saw the virtual completion of the ISS. The six-member crew of Endeavour installed the Tranquillity Node, a spacious addition that includes the "cupola" observation deck. The commissioning of Tranquillity marks the last major component of the space station.
BBC News

Apple to take iPad orders this week?
Want a the 3G-less Apple iPad? The Mac maker will begin taking advance orders for the product later this week, it has been claimed. The news comes from website AppAdvice - formerly AppleiPhoneApps.com - and is said to derive from "a reliable source... familiar with the matter". Said mole reckons Apple's online store will begin taking iPad orders on 25th February.
Reg Hardware

TV makers firm on real-time 2-D/3-D conversion
CE giants raised eyebrows at the Consumer Electronics Show when they promised that their upcoming 3-D TVs would convert 2-D programming to 3-D in real-time. Critics dismiss real-time 2-D/3-D conversion as gimmickry, claiming the results are generally so spotty that even the casual observer can pick up on the parlour trick. The CE industry's content-production partners are sceptical at best.
EETimes

UN calls for action on growing electronic waste
The world must do more to cope with the drastic rise in electronic waste, according to a UN study published today.The report suggests that in some countries, the amount of e-waste being produced – including mobile phones and computers – could rise by as much as 500 per cent over the next decade. Such rapid growth, it argues, will create intractable problems for people's health and the environment as the waste, much of it containing toxic material, decays.
The Guardian

Apple removes 5,000 apps from App Store
Apple has removed around 5,000 apps from its App Store, including some that it claims feature "overtly sexual" content. Dozens of developers received a message from Apple stating that the company was refining the guidelines under which the App Store operates, and that content that it had "originally believed to be suitable for distribution" were now no longer deemed appropriate, following "numerous complaints from customers about this type of content".
Telegraph

Welcome to FarmVille: Population 80 million
FarmVille, the world's biggest social game, has almost 80 million players – that's around 20 per cent of all Facebook users; more people than use Twitter or, indeed, live in the UK. Some 30 million of them tend their crops daily. When the site allowed its gamers to exchange virtual Valentine gifts online, 220 million were sent and accepted within 18 hours; to get that into perspective, it's worth noting that Hallmark sells approximately 200m e-cards over the entire Valentine season.
The Independent

School denies spying on students with MacBooks
A suburban school district in the US denied it spied on students by remotely activating the cameras on their school-issued MacBook laptops. In a statement released late Thursday, Christopher McGinley, the superintendent of Lower Merion School District of Ardmore, Philadelphia, admitted that the MacBooks' cameras could be turned on without the user's knowledge, but said that the functionality was part of a security feature.
Techworld.com

Industry body to investigate Chip and PIN flaw
The people who created the specification for the Chip and PIN security system are investigating claims that the technology has been hacked. The specification body, EMVCo, said it is looking at a paper penned by boffins at Cambridge University,who demonstrated an attack with a valid payment card that did not require a valid PIN to be entered to complete a transaction. EMVCo is owned by American Express, JCB, MasterCard and Visa, which will also be looking at the paper.
The Inquirer

SAP boss ousted in shock management reshuffle
SAP chief executive officer Leo Apotheker has unexpectedly resigned after less than a year in the job, when the company announced that it was declining to renew his contract. SAP said today that Apotheker was to leave the company by "mutual agreement" and is to be replaced by current board members Bill McDermott, head of field organization and Jim Hagemann Snabe, head of product development.
V3

Mozilla to drop Mac OS Tiger support
Firefox maker Mozilla has announced it will drop support for the Mac OS X 10.4 from future versions of its popular browser. In a posting on the Mozilla.dev.planning forum, Mozilla engineer Josh Aas explained that although the firm stopped supporting the operating system – codenamed Tiger – in September 2009, the team “left much of the code required to support that platform in the tree in case we wanted to reverse that decision”. Mac OS X 10.4 was released in April of 2005 and a lot has changed since then. We would like to take advantage of more modern technologies on Mac OS X and 10.4 support has been a hindrance,” he wrote.
V3

Microsoft to drop Linux and Unix from enterprise search
Microsoft is to halt offering Linux or Unix versions of its enterprise search products after a wave of releases set to ship in the first half of this year, said the company in its blog. After Microsoft bought Fast Search & Transfer in 2008, it said it would continue offering and updating standalone versions of the company's ESP platform for Linux and Unix, wrote Bjorn Olstad, CTO for Fast and a Microsoft distinguished engineer. "Over the last two years, we've done just that." But the products being released this year will be the last containing a search core compatible with Linux and Unix, he said.
Techworld

Consumers say 'no' to iPad
When the over-the-top hype met the reality of Apple's iPad, most consumers decided they didn't need, and wouldn't buy, the new device, according to a survey from online retailer Retrevo. "There was too much hoopla," said Manish Rathi, Retrevo's co-founder. The company conducted two polls of more than 1,000 American consumers each, one survey done before the iPad's 27 January unveiling , the other after. "There was so much [hype] that afterward, people were underwhelmed because they expected it would slice bread." Retrevo's two surveys spotlighted the before-and-after differences in consumers' attitudes toward the iPad. Before launch, 26 percent of those polled said they had heard of the iPad, but weren't interested in buying it; that number doubled to 52 percent after Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage in San Francisco and hoisted an iPad.
Techworld

AdMob expresses concern at Apple's location ads ban for iPhone
Earlier today, it emerged that Apple is telling iPhone developers that it won't approve apps that use location primarily to push geo-targeted ads at users. Although the exact details are still unclear - it's possible the ban will only apply for apps that don't use location in other ways already - it could have an impact on the plans of mobile ad networks like AdMob.
Mobile Entertainment

Network users get great clarity on call pricing
Network users will have greater insight into suppliers' pricing following Ofcom's decision to insist on the publication of prices lists for call termination rates. Ofcom has also declared there is enough competition in the market for inter-exchange traffic to stop regulating prices, but it will continue to regulate BT for single transit (ST) links, ie, for interconnection between networks where direct interconnection is not economically viable. The decisions are the result of a consultation published last September into the UK's fixed narrowband wholesale communications markets. The decisions cover the UK except for Hull.
Computer Weekly

Chinese authorities have shut down the largest hacker training website
The largest hacker training website in China has been closed down, seeing three of its members arrested in the process, according to reports. The "Black Hawk Safety Net" website taught hacking techniques and provided malicious software downloads for its 12,000 members in exchange for a fee, the Wuhan Evening News newspaper reported this weekend, citing police in Huanggang, just east of Wuhan. Hacking from China has received international attention since Google threatened to quit China last month after a serious hacking attempt originating from China, resulting in the theft of its intellectual property.
IT Pro

Social networking giant Facebook has removed Microsoft banner ads from its site
Facebook has cut short an exclusive deal with Microsoft that saw the software giant manage its display ads by taking back control and removing the company's banners from the site. However, Microsoft - the exclusive provider of web search on Facebook - will continue to sell text-based search ads on the website as the partners extended the arrangement beyond 2011, when it had been due to expire. A Facebook spokesman declined to say how long the deal has been extended.
IT Pro

Ofcom backs operators' bid for greater 3G coverage
Consultation launched on whether operators can extend power limits of 3G licenses. Moves to boost mobile phone coverage in the UK by increasing the power limits of operators’ 3G licenses are in the pipeline. Ofcom has come out in in favour of UK operators topping up the power of their 3G base stations - subject to consultation - after considering an application from Vodafone. The regulator has published a consultation document today and is calling for comments on the plans.
Mobile

Vodafone suffers Twitter 'attack'
Vodafone is looking into a 'severe breach of rules' by staff after an offensive 'tweet' was posted on its official Twitter account, Vodafone UK. The offensive 'tweet' was posted at 15:47 and deleted shortly afterwards. Since then, the operator has sent out numerous apologies to its followers on the social networking site. Vodafone reacted quickly to the breach and posted an apology, just under an hour after the original post, which said: 'We're really sorry. A severe breach of rules by staff in out building, dealing with that internally. Please keep your faith in us.'
Mobile 

Sony wants to be "active player" in tablet market
Sony appears ready to enter the tablet market, describing itself as "very interested" in designing a product of its own. Pressed on Sony's response to Apple's iPad announcement, chief financial officer Nobuyuki Oneda gave the clearest indication yet that the company was contemplating a challenger.
PC PRO

Telecom Italia denies only two bidders remain for Argentina stake
Italian operator insists it is in the process of compiling a short list from a 'number of bidders'.
Telecom Italia denied Thursday a report that only two bidders remained in the running for its stake in Telecom Argentina. Earlier, Reuters, citing an unnamed source close to the deal, reported that airport services operator Corporacion America and local businessman Alfredo Roman were the only two bidders still seeking to buy Telecom Italia's stake in Telecom Argentina.
Total Telecom

Microsoft’s Mundie calls for mandatory ‘internet drivers licences’
Microsoft’s chief strategy officer Craig Mundie suggested that internet users should get mandatory training before being allowed online. Mundie has proposed a three-tier system of authentication - for people, devices and applications saying that while this would mean some loss of anonymity online people were used to having to present identification in other areas of life and the internet should not be different.
v3.co.uk

EU reviews internet security after emissions fraud A phishing scam against the Emissions
An email phishing fraud against the European Union's greenhouse gas Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has prompted the executive European Commission to revise its internet security guidelines. German officials said this week that online fraudsters had targeted international carbon markets to steal emissions permits from companies and sell them illegally.
IT PRO

Facebook could sell own brand phones by 2011
Facebook could produce its own mobile phones before the end of next year, according to Christian Lindholm, an industry expert and managing partner at design consultancy Fjord.
Lindholm, who pioneered Nokia's user interface and was head of global mobile products at Yahoo, that getting into the hardware space would be an obvious move for the social networking site.
v3.co.uk

Licensing.biz leaps to latest traffic high
Europe's dominant site for licensing across mobile, games  toys, sport, fashion and more achieved record readership last month. According to the latest Google Analytics audit, www.licensing.biz attracted 31,669 unique visitors between January 1st and 31st, whilst page views hit an all-time high of 76,489 during the same period.
Mobile Entertainment

Did Apple just ban location based ads in iPhone apps?
There may be trouble ahead for iPhone apps (and mobile ad networks) looking to make use of location-based advertising. In an 'App Store Tip' posted on its iPhone Developer website, Apple appears to have nixed the idea.
Mobile Entertainment

GSMA and comScore launch Mobile Media Metrics service
From today, brands can access anonymised mobile Internet usage data from all five UK operators. This is a massive day for the GSMA and its operator members, the culmination of many painful years of collaboration between notoriously slow and mutually suspicious companies.
Mobile Entertainment

Apple iPad could kill the Internet
It has only been seen in the flesh by a handful of hand-picked hacks, but already Apple's iPad has been hailed as the saviour of computing, dismissed as nothing more than an overblown iPod and received more column inches than the devastasting earthquake in Haiti. Now the device, which won't even see the public light of day for at least another month, has been credited with the ability to bring the world to its knees by swamping the Internet's infrastructure.
Thinq

AT&T lets 3G Sling TV onto iPhone
AT&T has reversed an earlier stand, allowing Sling Media's player for the iPhone touch to stream live or recorded television over 3G. As we reported last spring, AT&T originally restricted SlingPlayer Mobile to Wi-Fi connections - even though it allowed 3G streaming rights for Major League Baseball's MLB.com At Bat app. At that time, Cnet quoted Sling Media's mobile product manager, Dave Eyler, as saying that their player was "under the bit rate that Apple has set for these kinds of applications," adding that "we are below some of the apps that have already been approved for the App Store."
The Register